If
Boeing is able to secure an export license for the F-15SE "Silent
Eagle" jet, the company plans to offer it to South Korea and other
interested clients.

Boeing and South Korean officials have
communicated about a possible deal over the past 12 months, but
Boeing has had to wait until the F-15SE's low-observable jet stealth
technology is evaluated.

The U.S. contractor believes its
fighter jet is ideal because it's customizable and can support larger
digital cockpit displays, AESA radar, newer radar absorbent coatings,
and other features unavailable in older aircraft.

The expected
price tag of the F-15SE is about $100 million, but can
changed depending on the technology and hardware installed.

The
country reportedly "has
asked for information on Silent Eagle so now we've applied
for the [license] and we hope to get that before the end of the
month," said Brad Jones, Boeing F-15SE program manager, in an
interview. "As soon as the export license is provided,
then I can provide [marketing] information to a country."

The
aircraft was publicly
introduced in 2009, and some military analysts believe it could
help fill a possible fighter gap. Boeing was unsure if it would
offer the F-15SE to other nations, but South Korea first asked in
late 2009 -- Boeing filed the necessary paperwork in early 2010, and
expects to receive approval to sell the aircraft.

It's not
uncommon for South Korea, Japan, Britain, and other U.S. allies to
receive U.S. fighter jets in exchange for money and other forms of
compensation -- but the U.S. government must approve of any deals
before they're completed.

The aircraft is a technological step ahead of U.S. jets
in use today (save for the F-22 Raptor), but still doesn't compare to the F-35
Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) from Lockheed Martin.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

The F-35 was initally supposed to be a plane for ALL the servies [prior to the AF pulling out], that could fufill every role imagineable.

Problem is, current planes do those same roles better; F-15/F18 are better pure dogfighters, the A-10 has it beat on ground attack runs. The JSF was simply meant to be the plane that would make everyone happy and share enough parts to drive down prices.

I think a much better investment would be to create remote control systems; the planes can do far more then pilots could live through to begin with, so remove the pilots and make a few hundred more of our current fighters. Cheapest option avaliable in my mind.

The F-35 was supposed to be "The Next F-16". It was assumed it would be an export plane, delivered to the militaries of the free world.

What they didn't expect was a resurgent Europe and its quite capable indigenous military industries. The Rafale and the Eurofighter far outclass the F-35 and many of the world's militaries are looking for a more reliable supplier than the USA.

We have a bad habit of embargoing governments the moment they don't do what we tell them to, so no country wants to be overly dependent on just American hardware. Look what happened to Iran and Venezuela, both which had to hurriedly switch over their militarys to more available Russian and European hardware.

Not only that, but the F35 has to not only be able to take off from an Air Force long-ass runway, but also have the VTOL capabilities that the Marines want, as well as being able to take the high stress catapult launches and arresting wire recoveries of a carrier at sea.

How much would it have cost to re-develop the F22's to do those last 2 jobs??